Mulled Cider

I’ve had the stomach flu the last few days. It was thoroughly unpleasant, and even drinking tea was highly unappealing. So I am quite behind on my tea advent calendar from Bird & Blend. I can’t remember which day this was. It is a very pretty pink tea. I loved the sound of it. However, the hibiscus was a little much for me. It wasn’t a bad tea. Someone who enjoys the zing of hibiscus would very likely love this one.

Sample from VariaTEA!

This is another surprisingly tasty blend :) I’d say they pretty much hit it on the mark for me in terms of coming across as a mulled cider. For me, this delivers on it’s namesake! And it’s a herbal, which is super nice. Was a really nice treat this afternoon with lunch watching the snow get blown around in the courtyard :)

Holiday Tea-son! This was a free sampler Bird & Blend included in my advent calendar order. I honestly expected it to be in the calendar, so I was holding onto it so I could make a pot of tea when it turned up since I’d have two teabags, but it never did so now I’m just having a late night cuppa while I finish off watching Solo (yes, for the first time… I don’t really do movies in the theater because the volume is always just way too loud for my migraine-head, and it took forever to get to me on the hold list when we got the DVD in at work). I’m fine with some late-night hibi-hip cider, though. And it just passed midnight in my timezone, so Merry Christmas to all you Steepsterites that celebrate! (I actually don’t observe, but I send well-wishing to you all anyway!)

So, first good sign, my cup is actually red! Thanks B&B, I would’ve been a little worried if I got two spiced ciders this season lacking their hibi petals and having a weaksauce base. This smells absolutely lovely, in fact! I’m getting spiced cinnamon apples wafting off the cup… mmm! A bit of clove too. And spiced apple cider is pretty much the flavor I’m getting from this, too. Once the flavors settle, there is a hibi fruitiness to the base, but it isn’t nearly as thick or strong as other hibi ciders I’ve had, and actually the strongest flavor note coming through for me in the tea is apple! It reads as more of a tart green apple (mmm, Granny Smith is my favorite kind of apple!), with strong cinnamon and clove spices. The spice is warming but doesn’t leave any unpleasant heat behind in the mouth.

I like this one! It makes me think of a classy, high-end loose leaf version of Stash’s Apple Cinnamon Chamomile tea, which is one of the few bagged teas I still really like.

This was a sample from Bird and Blend that I was happy to revisit. Sipped on it as I ate an overpriced square donut from a place in Toronto. I was happy with one of the things I was consuming and disappointed by the other.

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 2

Odd that they chose to put two such similar teas in a row… This is yet another fruit tisane with hibiscus and holiday spices. No stevia though, so that’s good.

Honestly, it’s quite bland? I used two sachets for 14 ounces of water, which seems reasonable to me. The color is a beautiful rich red, but I’m not getting a lot of flavor. There’s a bit of apple, hibiscus, and clove, so it does sort of taste like a weak apple cider? The ginger shows itself a tiny bit in the aftertaste as well.

It’s fine, but you would certainly need to use a lot of leaf to get a decent flavor out of it. I definitely prefer yesterday’s version, even with the bit of stevia.

I was looking forward to a warming cup of this today, but it’s not quite as I remember it being the first time I tried it. It’s apple and spice, yes, but there’s an underlying soapiness that’s really distracting, to the point where it’s spoiling my enjoyment of the cup.

I’m going to put this out there – I don’t wash my work mug with soap of any kind. It gets a rinse under the tap, and the occasional wipe with a paper towel, but that’s the extent of it. That’s not to say it’s not clean, just that I don’t trust any of the cleaning implements in the office kitchen anywhere near my cup. That’s how I know it’s not contaminated with soap from a lack of proper rinsing, so the soapiness must somehow be coming from the tea. I used a little more leaf this time than last, but that’s the only difference. Mostly, I was trying to boost the flavour level since it turned out a little weak and watery last time.

I don’t know what’s making it soapy, but it’s making me sad.

Day four of advent calendar: I’m worried that I might not like this tea as it seems like it’s heavy on spices. I actually like cider, but not when it’s overwhelmed by cinnamon, clove, ginger. The scent of this tea reminds me of a spiced apple candle… a tad artificial. Sipping this tea, it’s definitely not as strong on the spices.. The apple flavor is a bit weak and watered down. I wish that the cider element could be stronger and more natural. It reminds me of drinking a dish of potpourri. Even though I don’t love this cup, it is a comforting drink to have on a cold night.

Adventaggedon Day 7 – Tea 5/6

Another tea that it looks like I’ve enjoyed in the past that I was kind of underwhelmed by today – and once again it was because I thought the flavour was really thin/flat. More than I remembered it being. I can’t help but skeptically wonder if the amount of tea leaf in this year’s sachets was slightly reduced to cut costs. Or, possibly more likely, I’m just getting a poor mix of ingredients in a lot of my sachets this year…

Anyway, it was a fine cup but not a memorable one. Apple-y with some mild mulling spices like cinnamon and clove. I wanted more sweetness from the apple and more oomph from the spice. Just a bit of backbone in any regard, really. I even left the teabag in to steep super strong/potent but it just never got there.

Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgyLwTgXrz/

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – December Theme: Holiday Teason Tea #3

additional notes: I’m going to also follow along with B&B’s advents with teas I actually have in stock on their appropriate days, like I did last year (I look at B&B’s advent page).  I didn’t have the new Cranberry tea from yesterday.  It sounds intriguing though.  I like this blend.  It might be one of my favorite blends including hibiscus I have ever had.  (The Mulled Wine is similar but better but I don’t think they have that one anymore.) B&B usually does right by hibiscus… or should I say the other ingredients in the blend for including the right amount of hibiscus.

A musty fruity flavour, provided by the apples and hibiscus, hints at a faint essence of cider, that becomes a little tart in the finish. This is combined by a spiced element of cinnamon and cloves with a tiny tang of ginger right at the finish.